How do I migrate contacts from old computer to new computer

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Ed Wood - 27 Jun 2006 14:36 GMT

I have upgraded my computer hard drive, and want to migrate my Outlook 2003
information to the new hard drive. I still have the old hard drive connected
to the computer so that I can transfer files, etc. I will later reformat the
old drive.

I have copied the outlook data (.pst, I think) to my new drive, and all of
the email folders and saved emails are present in the new install of Outlook
2003. However, the contact information is missing from my address book.

I can open the outlook data file in excel and see the contact information
there, but it does not show up in Outlook 2003.

Does anyone have any suggestions how I can retrieve this information to my
contacts list in Outlook 2003?

Thanks for your help.
Ed Wood

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Brian Tillman - 27 Jun 2006 15:16 GMT

> I have upgraded my computer hard drive, and want to migrate my
> Outlook 2003 information to the new hard drive. I still have the old
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> install of Outlook 2003. However, the contact information is missing
> from my address book.

You have to configure your address book.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287563/en-us

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Brian Tillman

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Ed Wood - 29 Jun 2006 16:07 GMT

Brian,

Thanks for the response.

I followed your suggestions, and was able to retrieve the data. I was able
to migrate the folders containing saved email to the new install of Outlook
2003.

But the contact list I have generated does not show up in my contacts. Funny
thing though, if I create a new email, and begin typing the contact in the
"send to" window, an window opens up that shows my old contacts where I can
select the recipient of the email. Even though they do not show up on my
contact list in the new install of Outlook 2003, the program is retrieving
them from somewhere.

How do I migrate them into the contact list on the new install of Outlook
2003?

Again, thanks for your help.
Ed Wood

> > I have upgraded my computer hard drive, and want to migrate my
> > Outlook 2003 information to the new hard drive. I still have the old
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> You have to configure your address book.
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287563/en-us

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Brian Tillman - 29 Jun 2006 19:07 GMT

> I followed your suggestions, and was able to retrieve the data. I was
> able to migrate the folders containing saved email to the new install
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Even though they do not show up on my contact list in the new install
> of Outlook 2003, the program is retrieving them from somewhere.

It's retrieving them from the autocompletion cache, a file whose name
matches your mail profile name and whose file type is .NK2. It's located in
the hidden folder
%AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook.

> How do I migrate them into the contact list on the new install of
> Outlook 2003?

The autocompletion cache is not in any way whatsoever connected to your
Contacts. It's simply a history of the last 1,000 addresses you have
resolved, usually by sending a message. With Outlook closed, copy the NK2
file from your old PC to the new, placing it in the same folder on the new
that is was on the old. Make sure it is not read-only and that its name
matches your current mail profile name. Then start Outlook. You should
then have the list available when you start typing in a recipient field.

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Brian Tillman

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Ed Wood - 03 Jul 2006 15:10 GMT

Brian,

Thank you for your response. I have looked in the
%AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook folder on the original Drive C: for the .NK2 file
and do not find one. I also looked in the %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook folder
on the new Drive C: and do not find one there.

What I did find, on the Original Drive c: only, was four files labeled .FX,
.FX2, .IX, .IX2. Are any of these possibly the same as the .NK2 file? None of
them are located in the %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook folder on the new Drive
C:.

Thanks for your help, and have a good 4th!
Ed

> > I followed your suggestions, and was able to retrieve the data. I was
> > able to migrate the folders containing saved email to the new install
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> matches your current mail profile name. Then start Outlook. You should
> then have the list available when you start typing in a recipient field.

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Brian Tillman - 03 Jul 2006 15:24 GMT

> Thank you for your response. I have looked in the
> %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook folder on the original Drive C: for the
> .NK2 file and do not find one. I also looked in the
> %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook folder on the new Drive C: and do not
> find one there.

Have you enabled viewing hidden files and folders? Have you enabled viewing
known file types?

> What I did find, on the Original Drive c: only, was four files
> labeled .FX, .FX2, .IX, .IX2. Are any of these possibly the same as
> the .NK2 file? None of them are located in the
> %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook folder on the new Drive C:.

Those files are unrelated to Outlook in any way. Those are possibly
Framemaker index files or Wordperfect Office files or Windows Fax files. I
can't explain why they'd be in the Outlook folder.

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Brian Tillman

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